Vinyl Patches and IPA....

[djs134]

I recently polished my '08 Nissan Altima. There are little (maybe 3 1/2" X 3 1/2") patched located just in front of the rear wheel wells. They are small and easy to forget....



After I'd applied my first coat of OS, and looked at the car in a different angle/light, I noticed some remaining tape residue on one of the patches. Not to worry, right? So I grab my IPA bottle and an mf towel to remove the OS so I can get the patch cleaned up and the mf towel kind of sticks to the patch...and leaves an uneven finish on the "vinyl"....



Now the patch look worse. I've tried M40, OID, a couple reapps of OS and still no deal although the apps of OS seem to reduce the dull scratched look by quite a bit.



Anyone run into a similar situation? Did I just not remove all of the OS? I'm a little hesitant to try wiping it again for fear of really botching it up. Any way I can get these "patches" back to looking smooth and shiny?

 

[dennn]

Is that the vinyl that came with the intake mod?

 

[djs134]

No, these are standard on at least all Altimas, I think. They have been applied a few inches above the bottom of the rocker panel and a couple inches forward of the rear wheel well. General consensus is that they are there to protect the paint from rock chips (assuming that you can trace the trajectory of a stone from the front wheel to 9 sq in or so area to the rear). They almost look like smaller versions of those iron on knee patches your mom may have put on your jeans when you were a kid (.... or did moms stop using those in the 60's?)